In 2025, fire departments serving Grand Marais responded to 14 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Incomplete 2025 data. Grand Marais's departments reported 14 incidents to NFIRS for 2025, against about 27 in a typical year, so 2025 figures on this page undercount. The 2021–2025 totals are the better guide.
Passenger vehicle fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 86% of all calls.
Jan peaks. Aug dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
136 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.6M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 22 | — | |
| 2022 | 28 | +27.3% | |
| 2023 | 31 | +10.7% | |
| 2024 | 41 | +32.3% | |
| 2025* | 14 | — |
* Well below Grand Marais's usual volume. That almost always means one or more departments didn't submit a full year to NFIRS, not that fires dropped, so no year-over-year change is shown for it.
For the 2 building fires Grand Marais departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 34 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 6 | 17.6% | |
| 2 | Common room, den, family room, living room, lounge | 5 | 14.7% | |
| 3 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 4 | 11.8% | |
| 4 | Wall surface: exterior | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 5 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 6 | Outside area, other | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Other | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cooking area, kitchen | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Bathroom, checkroom, lavatory, locker room | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 9 | 26.5% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Grand Marais mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 9 | 26.5% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 8 | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Heat source: other | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 4 | Arcing | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 5 | Chemical reaction | 3 | 8.8% | |
| 6 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 5.9% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 9 | Cigarette | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 10 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 1 | 2.9% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 2 | 5.9% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Grand Marais departments in 2025. These 6 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $10,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $1,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $1,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $150 | Mobile property (vehicle) fire, other | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Grand Marais sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 135,341 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Recreation and ceremony | 75,484 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 31,830 | 38.0 mi | |
| 1995 | Recreation and ceremony | 12,600 | 26.2 mi | |
| 1996 | Natural | 4,130 | 23.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 4,104 | 22.4 mi | |
| 2006 | Natural | 1,792 | 18.0 mi | |
| 2005 | Natural | 1,335 | 39.1 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 1,269 | 20.2 mi | |
| 1995 | Natural | 1,010 | 14.3 mi | |
| 2002 | Natural | 450 | 16.9 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 257 | 47.8 mi | |
| 2013 | Natural | 188 | 44.8 mi |
Top 2 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Minnesota cities with population within ±25% of Grand Marais. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.